Frances Greene

Frances Mary (Woodbury) Greene, 81, died on Friday, Feb. 27, 2009 after a brief struggle with cancer.

A Bedford resident for 47 years, she was born in St. Johns, MI on May 15, 1927, the daughter of Lee E. and Mildred (Gregory) Woodbury. Valedictorian of the class of 1945 at the Rodney B. Wilson School in St. Johns, she went on to earn a B.A. from Central Michigan College and an M.A. in Education from the University of Michigan.

Mrs. Greene began her teaching career in Fowlerville, MI. In the mid-1950s taught English in the armed forces dependent schools in Newfoundland and Japan. She went on to teach in Oregon and Massachusetts-including two years in the Math Department at Bedford High in the 1970s. In 1972 she joined Dynamics Research Corporation in Wilmington, retiring 25 years later as Department Administrator for the SP-23 Program.

Mrs. Greene was a member of the Lutheran Church of the Savior, where she served 20 years as Financial Secretary. She was an active participant in the Women's Missionary League, filling many behind-the-scenes roles over the years. She tirelessly assembled school and health kits for overseas mission work, collected labels and box tops for church schools, and relentlessly searched for bargain items to donate to the church's local mission work. For the last 11 years she volunteered weekly at the Central Food Ministry in Lowell.

Mrs. Greene was an avid supporter of Boy Scouts from the time her son David joined Troop 194. In 1971 she was recognized by the troop as "Outdoorswoman of the Year" for being the first woman to sleep "under the stars" with the scouts, having volunteered to drive a carful of boys and gear to Maine for a canoe trip. She helped her son Dan build an enormous collection of Council shoulder patches, planning travel itineraries to visit dozens of local Scout offices between Bedford and Michigan. In 1978 she accompanied her son Richard as the first ever woman to attend the Minuteman Council's annual Father-Son Eagle Scout banquet-which was changed the following year to include both parents. Mrs. Greene was also an active supporter of her daughter Betsy's Girl Scout troop, helping sell and deliver prize-winning volumes of cookies and chaperoning the Cadette Bell Band on a bus trip to Florida. Mrs. Greene volunteered her time to many Bedford institutions, including two years as Secretary of Bedford High Patrons of Music Students (POMS), and working as a cashier for many years at the POMS Chuck Wagon and Bedford Choral Society events.

Mrs. Greene enjoyed traveling. Over the years she visited France, Italy, England, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Portugal. In July 2000 she traveled with members of her church to Hungary to help rebuild the Lutheran church in Sarvar.

She is survived by her son David and his wife Jo Anne of Seattle, WA, her son Daniel and his wife Cherie K. of Merrimack, NH, her son Richard of Wayland, MA, and her daughter Betsy of Jericho, VT. She was grandmother of Chana, Patrick, and Aaron Greene, and sister of Norman Woodbury of Plant City, FL and the late Howard Woodbury of St. Johns, MI.

Donations in her memory may be made to the Central Food Ministry, care of the Lutheran Church of the Savior, 426 Davis Rd, Bedford, MA 01730. Her family has also established the "Frances M. Greene Under-the-Stars Fund" to benefit camping activities of Boy Scout Troop 194.

A graveside service will be held Saturday, March 7, 2009 at 2 p.m. at Mt. Rest Cemetery in St. Johns, officiated by Pastor Jeffrey Heimsoth. Local arrangements by the Osgood Funeral Home.